Ceramic steels which should maybe be called ceramics not steels are capable of rubbing off a teeny tiny amount of metal from your knives as you hone them which you can immediately see as gray streaks on the white ceramic rod.
What is a ceramic hone.
They are flat oval or round in cross section and up to 1 foot 30 cm long.
The steel and ceramic honing steels may have longitudinal ridges whereas the diamond coated.
Is ceramic smooth steel or grooved steel the best material to keep your knives in great shape.
They are generally harder than a steel hone but not quite as abrasive as a diamond hone.
A ceramic hone is the best of both worlds.
The hone will still probably remove some tiny particles of metal while it aligns but it is nothing to worry about.
You clean a knife each time you use it and you should also clean your sharpening steel every time you hone your knife.
Photo by flickr member matt feifarek under creative commons.
Honing steel option 2.
Ceramic rods on the other hand are less aggressive than diamond and can sharpen as well or better than a steel.
Once you ve chosen your sharpening steel you ll need to take care of it.
A honing steel sometimes referred to as sharpening steel whet steel sharpening stick sharpening rod butcher s steel and chef s steel is a rod of steel ceramic or diamond coated steel used to re align blade edges.
It is 12 inches in length and can help to sharpen and reshape any types of knives.
The rod was made of a combination of industrial strength ceramic on honing steel.
Find out how the different materials affect your knives and what to look for in a honing rod.